Salvation
by TaylaNovak
Summary: Callisto has been forced to live with the pain she has caused and she wanders through Greece in a daze. She returns to her home valley and finds salvation waiting for her in the form of a beautiful young farm girl who wants nothing more than to help the insane warrior queen. f/f
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Just love Xena and Callisto

This was not what she wanted. This was not the plan. IT WAS NEVER THE PLAN! She would never achieve the oblivion she sought because of a certain warrior princess. All of this was HER fault! This pain, this gut-wrenching agony that she felt was all her fault. She destroyed Cirra, she killed her family, she burned her village to the ground and **she** gets treated like some hero. Everything she'd done was because of HER! The blood should stain HER hands! All she wanted was peace. Peace from the images of her parents burning, peace from their screams, peace from the screams of the tormented constantly filling her head. It was all she wanted. And it was the one thing she could never have.

Callisto's feet made deep gouges in the dirt as she walked along the road. She didn't know where she was going, and she didn't care. Rage boiled beneath the placid surface of her face, but she was done scheming and plotting for death. She was a god now, so death would never come. Ever since Xena had killed her and hid the Hind's Blood dagger, ONCE AGAIN, she'd been resurrected by Hades to live out her torment on earth. Tartarus and Hell just didn't seem to work on her. And so, she wandered from area to area, like a ghost haunting the land. As if on their own, her feet pointed homeward and that is where she began to trudge, not knowing that her salvation was waiting for her.

Cirra was returning to its natural, beautiful state. The valley had been renamed by the village that had sprung up in place of the old one. Karro, it was called. Callisto walked through the pleasant streets, seeing nothing but burnt houses and scorched bodies with terrified faces, mouths open in silent screams of anguish. The bustling townspeople, with their flowing colorful clothing appeared black and shorn, showing signs of being seared by fire. Their excited cries were nothing more than screams of agony. She quickly ran away, into the woods, hands raking repeatedly through her hair as she screamed and lashed out with lightning bolts. The screams only grew louder until they were so deafening, she collapsed onto the ground and curled into a tight ball. Whimpering in pain, but not crying. She would never cry. She waited for the numbness to return, to end her present suffering. She waited for her emotions to dull so she could no longer feel the weight of her crimes. She knew it was always there and that it would always return, but there were moments when she felt...nothing. Just as she had when she fought Xena and Hercules before her sanity was stripped from her. The feeling never stayed for very long, but she was glad of the time she was given.

The night had come and gone when Callisto picked herself up and crept back to the still sleeping village and found herself walking along a familiar route that lead to a small creek. She remembered the times she and her sister had spent at the very spot even before she'd reached it. However, the place was already appeared to be a young girl. Her appearance would suggest she was at least 19 or 20 summers. She was beautiful, with hair long and luxurious, the color of spun gold and reddish gold skin that showed that she spent a lot of time outside, probably working the field by her toned physique. But what really caught the eye of the warrior queen was that in looking at this girl, the screams were deafened to near silence and the color and vibrance returned to the world. Callisto hated it. This one girl, whom she barely knew had managed to change something so constant in seconds. She did not like this at all.

"Ilithyia!" Callisto ducked into the bushes as an older woman appeared on the horizon. She strongly resembled the girl so it could be assumed they were mother and daughter. "Come in to eat! There is a lot of work to do."

Ilithyia sighed. "There is always work to do." She growled as she started up the hill toward home. Callisto rose to her feet and watched the girl as she left, leaving streaks of brilliant colors in her wake. Once she was at the top of the hill however, for simply no reason at all, she turned and looked back, spotting the warrior among the leaves. She smiled and waved. Suddenly, an arrow struck the trees behind her. Callisto leaped into action without thinking, racing up the hill to cover Ilithyia's body with her own. Arrows struck her body but she didn't even notice. Once the barrage had ceased, the archers revealed themselves as warriors for some warlord that she didn't bother to listen to the name of. They demanded gold and food in exchange for not wasting the village. As much as Callisto wanted to see it happen, and much as she wanted to partake in the pleasure that came with violence, she just...couldn't allow it. She wasn't sure why. Perhaps it was because she didn't want history to repeat itself. Perhaps she was just extremely bored and thought clearing out some warlord camp would enliven her meager existence. For whatever reasons, she lashed out with lightning bolts, incinerating half the archers at once. The rest tried to run, but a few fireballs took of that.

"By the gods!" Ilithyia's cry startled her and she nearly fried the girl on instinct. "Are you hurt? Are you in pain?" She asked frantically, looking over the many arrows protruding the warrior's stomach.

Callisto raised an eyebrow. "Funny. Obviously," She made an annoyed gesture with her hand and a fireball. "I am a god and some arrows aren't going to hurt me, little girl. Run along and play now."

"Thank you for saving me."

"If you weren't so stupid as to be out here alone, then I wouldn't have to do so, now would I?"

"Who knew heroes could be such bitches." Ilythia said, with a slight smirk that made Callisto frown. Even Callisto felt no pain, she could tell the girl was making a conscious effort to be as gentle as possible.

"This is truly unnecessary." She grumbled.

Ilythia looked up at her before suddenly snatching out the last one, making the psychotic warrior jump in surprise. "Yes it was. Thank you again, Callisto."

"How do you know who I am?" Callisto demanded rounding on her, but the girl was hardly afraid.

"Who doesn't know you?" Ilithyia smirked. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"I am a murderer, a warlord, a warrior queen, and a GOD! I do not need to eat and I want to know you aren't running away in fear."

"Just because you don't need to eat, doesn't mean you can't. I'm not afraid because if you wanted to hurt me, you would have done so already and you wouldn't have saved me just now." Her smirk widened and Callisto scowled.

"Stay out of trouble next time, or I'll let them kill you. Or better yet, do the honors myself." She turned to leave.

"Thank you again, Callisto."

Callisto paused. "Whatever."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hello Everyone, I have decided that since I have so many stories and ideas for more, that I'll update the stories by category and/or by whichever story has the most reviews. For reviews, I would love detailed feedback on the stories, what you liked, what you didn't like, what you didn't understand, etc. You get the drift.

I'm really sorry for the stories that haven't been updated in a while. I just finished with honors chemistry and it was kicking my ass. So sorry, I'll try to do better with the updates.

Thanks!


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